Cambridge Audio

EXA100 Integrated Amplifier

USD $2,199

Cambridge Audio is on something of a roll right now. Between its compact range of wireless headphones, its expansive range of all-in-one audio systems and its burgeoning line-up of traditional hi-fi separates, the company is enjoying success at practically every turn.

Within that separates catalogue, however, there has been a sizeable gap between the CX and Edge ranges for quite a while. So, a bridge has lately been established in the shape of a new two-strong range called EX. It consists of a streaming preamp called EXN100 and the EXA100 integrated stereo amplifier you see here. The latter certainly looks the part and is priced to go head-to-head with acclaimed alternatives from some of the most credible brands around. No pressure, then!

UP CLOSE

You might have thought that the EXA100 is available in a silver finish, but you'd be wrong. What you're looking at is 'lunar grey', and it's the only colour the EX range comes in. It makes for a confident-looking fascia embossed with the brand logo and the model name, and the nicely weighted volume dial features a pleasantly tactile knurled edge. A power switch and a 6.3mm headphone socket are the only features besides a central display with input selection buttons.

As far as specification is concerned, I may as well go with the word 'thorough'. For instance, the connectivity on the rear panel is extensive and forward-thinking. Along with four line-level analogue inputs (including one pair of balanced XLRs for use with, say, the EXN100 network streamer), the EXA100 also features a couple of digital optical inputs, a digital coaxial input, a USB-B socket and an HDMI eARC. Outputs run to a couple of pre-outs – one stereo pair for use with a power amplifier, the other a single socket designed for use with a subwoofer – and two pairs of loudspeaker connections. There's an RS232, a control bus loop, a switch to allow the EXA100 to be used as a pure power amplifier and, by way of an encore, a little aerial that facilitates Bluetooth wireless connectivity with codec compatibility up to aptX HD.

Things are no less comprehensive on the inside. You get a claimed 100W RMS per channel of Class AB power, which is heavily influenced by the company's pricey Edge M power amplifier. Its amplifier modules are based on those fitted to the more expensive model, and it uses the same power transistors too. Incoming digital signals are dealt with by an ESS Sabre ES9018K2M DAC operating at a native 24-bit/192kHz resolution.

Four-layer PCBs, a proprietary CAP protection system with four modes of overload protection, and carefully considered grounding all contribute to the impression of meticulous design. The big mesh vents on the top of the EXA100 give an alluring glimpse of an oversized toroidal transformer surrounded by polished heatsinks. It's a gratuitous bit of visual drama but one that's all the more enjoyable for it.

Aside from the fascia controls, the EXA100 can be operated using the supplied remote control handset. It is a system remote, which means it features quite a few more buttons than needed – but it's perfectly usable and logically laid out.

THE LISTENING

For a device that can deal with several different sources, the EXA100 is admirably consistent no matter what music you feed it or the storage format from which it emerges. Play a Compact Disc into one of its digital optical inputs or a pre-amplified turntable into a line-level analogue input, connect its USB-B input to a laptop, and hook up its HDMI eARC to a television – it's all the same to the Cambridge Audio. In each and every circumstance, you get a vigorous, direct and thoroughly convincing rendition of whatever it is you're listening to.

For instance, a CD of Angel Olsen's All Mirrors is served up with immediacy and positivity. The close-mic'd vocal lines in the majority of the songs are loaded with detail both broad and fine, and consequently the voice sounds characterful and bristling with attitude. And when a little slap-back echo is deployed, the effects are made absolutely apparent. The Cambridge Audio communicates eloquently through the midrange and sounds highly engaging as a result.

A vinyl copy of Massive Attack's Mezzanine demonstrates many of the same characteristics where low frequency presence is concerned. The bottom end has depth and solidity, but there's also a lot of variation and plenty of detail identified and contextualised. The EXA100 controls its bass activity with something approaching fanaticism, and the straight-edged attack it musters allows rhythms and tempos to be expressed with confidence.

The Cambridge Audio attacks with a similar sense of purpose at the opposite end of the frequency range, and it's here that just a moment's system-matching is in order. The treble response the EXA100 generates is bright and shining and right on the edge of what's acceptable when partnered with my reference Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3 standmounters. These are quite lively speakers where the top end is concerned, but anything with more enthusiasm in treble terms could result in too much of a good thing. As it stands, though, the Cambridge Audio is a crisp and determined listen at the top end and has enough detail and substance to balance out its more visceral tendencies.

Integration of the frequency range is smooth and even-handed, and the overall tonality is carefully neutral, too. Dynamic headroom is considerable, so when listening to the soundtrack to Late Night with the Devil via the HDMI eARC socket, the shifts in intensity are tracked faithfully. The EXA100 can also describe significant changes in volume or attack while maintaining its composure; its sonic characteristics never alter, no matter the sort of drive it's being asked to summon. It is worth noting that when playing at very low volumes, the output of this amplifier becomes slightly 'lop-sided'; at close to zero volume, the left channel of my review sample disappeared a tad quicker than the right channel.

There's a remarkable sense of space and scale to the sound of the EXA100. Its soundstage is open and confidently defined, and even when listening to the massed ranks of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas having at Orff's Carmina Burana simultaneously via USB-B, there's sufficient elbow-room for each participant to do their thing without being impacted by any other. The sheer scale of the piece is translated faithfully, and the Cambridge Audio has no problems handling the complexity of the recording.

THE VERDICT

Cambridge Audio's established CX and Edge ranges already have much to recommend them, but what's most impressive about the EXA100 is that it is decisively closer to its high-end Edge sibling than it is to the affordable CX in performance terms, but not price. As such, it is one of the best integrated amplifiers in its class, and so it comes highly recommended.

Visit Cambridge Audio for more information